Christmas past Essay Example for Free

Christmas past Essay The fog and darkness thickened so, that people ran out with flaring links And The ancient tower of a church, whose gruff old bell was always peeping slily down at Scrooge out of a gothic window in the wall, became invisible This sums up Scrooge, dark and dull, and sets the scene for the events that are to follow. The weather is essentially used to make the picture mysterious and dismal, and foretells the proceedings in the remainder of the novel. The second ghost whom we witness is the ghost of Christmas past. Its facial features arent quite distinguishable as it looks like a young child and an old man at the same time. It was a strange figure like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, viewed through some supernatural medium This may be because it resembles memories, which are also distorted and blurry. He shows Scrooge as a child, and Scrooges sheds tears at the sight of himself missing out on the fun, sitting in a corner reading a book. Scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he used to be. The ghost of Christmas past also manages to show Scrooge his sister and former employer and how nice they are. He is trying to show Scrooge what a real Employer and uncle should act like. The third ghost that appears is the ghost of Christmas present. This is once again a warning ghost; a ghost who is there to warn Scrooge of what his actions are doing to other people. The ghost of Christmas present takes Scrooge to see other people who are less fortunate than him but still manage to be jolly and enjoy what they have at Christmas time. The spirit accompanies Scrooge to the house of Bob Cratchit, Scrooges clerk. Scrooge pays Bob a very low salary but the Cratchit family still manage to enjoy Christmas and make the most of what they do have even though they have a sick son, Tiny Tim, who will most likely die. Scrooge looks at the family, and becomes attached to Tiny Tim, and the fact that he is so ill, has a huge effect on Scrooge. Scrooge was touched in the same way as the reader is by Tiny Tim. Even Tiny Tim, excited by the two young Cratchits, beat on the table with the handle of his knife, and feebly cried Hurrah! Scrooge wants to know more about Tiny Tim. Say he will be spared. The Spirit also repeats Scrooges words to him that he said to some portly gentlemen collecting for the poor, Scrooge had said If he is going to die hed better hurry up and do it and decrease the surplus population. Scrooge feels extremely guilty at having his own words thrown back at him, and he realises he needs to be kinder and give Bob a rise in salary. The last spirit to visit Scrooge is the Ghost of Christmas yet to come. This spirit is very different to the Ghost of Christmas present. It is much more frightening in manner and appearance and is the genus of ghost you might expect to find in an archetypal ghost story. Like all the other spirits, he is described in tremendous detail, but in a slightly different way to the others. The others were definitely inspiring, but the last one is shrouded in mystery and the classic tension and atmosphere starts to build-up. The spirit is said to be shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible, save one outstretched hand. This description portrays the ghost as being gloomy and mysterious. The spirit reveals how things will turn out if Scrooge does not change. He shows Scrooge the death of a young, helpless child, Bob Cratchits son, Tiny Tim. He also shows him what things will be like after he dies if he doesnt change. This ghost shows what people thought of Scrooge too. He frightened every one away from him when he was alive, to profit us when he was dead. Others were pleased about his death. It was a happier house for this mans death! There are some men talking in the street about Scrooges death. One said, What has he done with his money. I havent heard, replied the other Left it to his company, perhaps. He hasnt left it to me. Thats all I know. These comments just go to show how much the general public despised Scrooge. Dickens uses the three spirits to go through his life and show the real Ebenezer Scrooge, not the grumpy, rich and sinful one. He also wants to show that inside every typical rich human being, there is a true person; it just takes something to bring it out.

Cognitive Development Theories

Cognitive Development Theories Cognitive development refers to the development of the ability to think and reason. It is the transformation of the childs undifferentiated, unspecialized cognitive abilities into the adults conceptual competence and problem-solving skills (Driscoll, 2005). For many psychologists, cognitive development answers the questions about how children moves toward reaching the endpoint of gaining the adults skills, what stages they are pass through and how do changes in their thinking occur and what role dose learning play? Among many theories that are introduced to explain the children cognitive and knowledge development, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky proposed the most influential theories that contributes to this component of psychology. Their theories underlined that the way the children learn and mentally grow has a critical role in their learning progress and abilities development. Piaget and Vygotsky were considered as constructivists who believed that learning occurs as a result of mental construction and by fitting the new information into the cognitive structure (scheme) that the learners already have (Driscoll, 2005). Constructivism approach also suggests that learning is affected by the context in which knowledge transfer occurs and by learners beliefs and attitudes . Piaget and Vygotsky also agreed on the societal influences in cognitive growth; however, they differ in the learning progression process. Piaget believed that children learn by interacting with their surroundings but with no impo rtance for the input from others and that learning occurs after development; Vygotsky, on the other hand, held the idea that learning happens before development and that children learn through history and symbolism and they value the input from their surroundings (Slavin, 2003). Further, it is imperative for teachers to understand the progression of cognitive development and the constructs of the major theories in the field in order to be able to attend the unique needs of each child and to develop the learning program, instructions plans and classroom activities in a developmentally appropriate approach. Kindergarten program is an example of these learning programs that is of particular interest because it influences children in very young age and shapes their cognitive development journey. Kindergarten learning programs should be designed on the natural approach for children learning as suggested by the cognitive development theories. The natural approach suggests that the physical, socio-emotional and cognitive development of children depends on activity and interactions with others (Driscoll, 2005). This means tha play is a key aspect of the Kindergarten learning programs and that is seen as phenomenon of thoughts and activity growth (Piaget, 1951). Play consists of activities performed for self-amusement that have behavioral, social, and psychomotor rewards. Play is directed towards the child, and the rewards come from within the individual child; it is enjoyable and spontaneous (Healthline.com). Play consists of different types that could be utilized to serve different needs of children in different situations and settings. Types of play range from physical play which involves jumping, running and other physical activities to the surrogate play at which ill children watch others play on their behalf. They also range from inactive observation play at which children prefer to stay away and watch to active associative at which children engage in group play that requires planning and co operation (Healthline.com). Play types also include expressive play which involves playing with materials (such as clay, play dough,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) and the manipulative play that gives children the measure of control over others and their environm ent (for example, to throw a toy out of a cot, watch a parent pick it up, and then throw it out again). Symbolic play (also be referred to as dramatic play) is another important type of play at which children enact scenes where they substitute one object for another (for example, a child will use a stick to represent a spoon or a hair brush to represent a microphone). This kind of pretend play takes on various forms: The child may pretend to play using an object to represent other objects, playing without any objects and pretending that they are indeed present. Or the child may pretend to be someone else and imitate adults and experiment what it means to be an adult in a role they are exposed to in their surrounding environment (for example, mother, father, care-giver, doctor and so on). They may also pretend through other inanimate objects (e.g. a toy horse kicks another toy horse). Symbolic play in children can usually be observed during the beginning of the second year of life an d it has been linked through the studies and experiments to the cognitive problem solving skills, creative abilities, and emotional well-being. In the following sections of this paper, the major constructs and ideas proposed by Piaget and Vygotsky theories will be examined in relation to symbolic play for cognitive and knowledge development of children; and the implications of each theory for instruction and practice in Kindergarten educational settings. Theories of Cognitive Development: Piaget and Vygotsky It is a fact that most of the methods and approaches for teaching are driven from Piaget and Vygotsky research studies. They both offer teachers good proposals on how to teach certain learning materials in appropriate approach that matches the child developmentally conditions. Piaget (1896-1980) believed that children progress through an invariant sequence of four stages. Theses stages are not arbitrary but are assumed to reflect qualitative differences in children cognitive abilities (Driscoll, 2005, p.149). He proposed that each stage must represent a significant qualitative and quantitative change in children cognitive and that children progress through these stages in a culturally invariant sequence. Each stage will include the cognitive structures and abilities (schemes) of the previous stages (constructivism) which all will act as an integrated cognitive structure (accumulated knowledge) at that given stage (Driscoll, 2005). These knowledge structures (schemes) can be prepared, changed, add to or developed through two processes of assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation occurs when a child perceives new objects or events in term of existing scheme (Driscoll, 2005); in other words, within information the child already knows. Accommodation occurs when existing schemes are modified to adopt (or fit in) a new experience or information. If the new information doesnt fit or it conflicts with the existing scheme then the disequilibrium occurs. Equilibrium, however, is the master developmental process which encompasses both assimilation and accommodation and prepares for the child transaction from one state of the development to the next (Driscoll, 2005). Piaget stages of development are: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations and formal operations. Sensorimotor stage is over the period between the birth to two years. During this stage, the child experiences the world around him through the senses and movement. The child develops object permanence which refers to the ability to understand an object exist even if it is not in field of vision (Woolfolk, 2004). Toward the end of this period, children begin to mentally represent object and events but to that point they only can act and during the transaction to the mental representation, they may use simple motor indicators as symbols for other events (Driscoll, 2005). They also begin to understand that their actions could cause another actions developing a goal-director behavior; for an example, throwing a toy from the cot to make parents pick the toy and pressing the doll button to make the sound and so on (kind of the manipulative play). Preoperational stage extends from the child second year to seventh year. According to Piaget, children have not yet mastered the ability of mental operation or to think through the actions (Woolfolk, 2004) but they acquire the semiotic function early in this period. This means that they are able to mentally represent the objects and events, as evidenced in their imitation of some activities long after it occurred (Driscoll, 2005). Hence, pretending, or symbolic play, is highly characteristic stage and the language acquisitions. One more interesting idea proposed by Piaget is that during this stage children are considered to be egocentric assuming that others share their points of view and which makes them engage in self monologue with no interacting with others (Woolfolk, 2004). Concrete operations period that is from seventh year to eleventh, is characteristic to be the hands-on period at which children overcome the limitation of egocentrism and learn through discovery learning while working (operating) with real tangible objects (Woolfolk, 2004). They become more internalized and able to create logical-mathematical knowledge resulting in operations (Driscoll, 2005). Formal operation occurs from eleventh year to adulthood and at which propositional logic is developed. Reaching this stage, children (who become adult) should be able to not only to think hypothetically but to plan systematic approaches to solve problems (Driscoll, 2005). The acquisition of the met-cognitive (thinking about thinking) is also an important characteristic of the formal operations. Piaget also believed in the active role of the child during development. He proposed that children act on their own environment and cognitive is rooted in the action (Driscoll, 2005). He acknowledged the social interaction aspect of the children development but only to move the child away from egocentrism to develop the social knowledge that can be learned only from other people (language, moral rules, values..). Although, Piaget theory of cognitive development proposed an integrated and beneficial framework for children learning that can be utilized by educators and parents to influence and enrich the learning process of the children; the theory has faced serious challenges and especially in the recent years with the contemporary research add to this filed. For an example, Piaget believed that all children, regardless of the culture, progress through four stages and once particular stage is reached, the regression to earlier stage cant occur. Replications of Piagets experiments have shown that children in different cultures do not pass through the same types of reasoning suggested in Piaget stages (Driscoll, 2005). Moreover, there are people, in any culture, who fail to reason at the formal operation level; we experience interacting with these people in our day-to-day life in personal and professional levels. Also, Piaget claimed that there must be a qualitative discontinues change in cognit ive from stage to stage; this has been questioned with the ability to accelerate development and the studies and experiments showed that that children can learn more than Piaget thought they could (Siegler Svetina 2002 as cited in Driscoll, 2005). One more is that children dont exhibit the characteristics of each stage; for example, children are sometimes egocentric beyond the proportional stage and the preoperational children are not egocentric all the time (Driscoll, 2005). However and despite these challenges, understanding Piagets proposed stages and development sequence suggests useful and effective certain learning and teaching strategies at each level. Example of these strategies as implications of Piaget theory will be discussed in the next section. Vygotsky (1896 -1943) proposed an alternative to the Piaget stages of cognitive development, he stated that children learn mainly by social interactions and their culture plays a major role to shape their cognitive (woolfolk, 2004). He believed that individual development could not be understood without reference to the social and cultural context within which such development is embedded (Driscoll, 2005, p.250). His theory suggests a co -constructed process of social interactions at which through children move toward individualized thinking. When a child receives a help through social interaction , the child then develops enhanced strategy to solve a similar problem if encountered in future. This co-constructed channel of communications between the child and his culture will lead to internalization and eventually to independent thinking (Woolfolk, 2004). A good example to understand social dialogue and internalization is what introduced by Vygotsky himself and cited in Driscoll (200 5) One a child stretching out her hand for an object she cant quite reach, an adult interprets the gesture of pointing and responds accordingly. Until the adult responds, the child is simply grasping for an object out of reach, however, the situation change with the adult respond to be a social exchange and the act of grasping takes on a shared meaning of pointing. When a child internalizes the meaning and uses the gesture as pointing, the interpersonal activity has been transferred into intrapersonal one. (p.252). The zone of proximate development is another principle introduced by Vygotsky. He agreed with Piaget that there is knowledge and skills associated with the child developmentally range of understanding, but he believed that with given help and support, children can perform problems that Piaget would consider out of their staged mental capabilities (Woolfolk, 2004). Scaffolding is the technique proposed by Vygotsky to support the discovery learning through social interaction and in the zone of approximate development. Scaffolding entails providing the child with a hint or clue to solve the problem. This encourages the child critical thinking and enhances his/her problem solving approach. Further, Vygotsky highlighted the importance of the mediation cultural tools to support learning and higher-level processing in children. These cultural signs and tools involve technological, symbolic and any available resource that aids in social communication (language, signs, symbols, media television, computer, booksà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦). Although the tools at hand may include sophisticated toys, children are successful at creating imaginary situations with sticks and other common objects in their environment. This leads into the symbolic play as a strategy for children teaching. Driscoll (2005) noted that in play, Vygotsky argued, children stretch their conceptual abilities and begin to develop a capacity for abstract thought; the signs they establish in their imaginations, in other word, can make up a very complex symbol system, which they communicate through verbal and nonverbal gestures(P.259). The development of language is another major principle that is proposed by Vygotsky s theory. Althoug didnt address specific implications for instruction of language, he believed that language constitutes the most important sign-using behavior to occur during the cognitive development and this is because it frees children from the constraints of their immediate environment. The language of a certain group of people reflects their own cultural beliefs and value system and children initially associate the words meaning to their contexts and life aspects till they learn to abstract the word from a particular concrete context (decontextualization). This process of decontextualization must occur with any symbol system if it is to serve higher mental functions such as reasoning (Driscoll, 2005, p. 259-260). Once again, Vygotsky suggested that symbolic play is important for language learning in young children. He also emphasized the importance of the private speech as a self-directed regula tion and communication with the self to guide actions and aid in thinking; this is in contrast to Piaget who viewed privative speech as egocentric (or immature) (Woolfolk, 2004). Undoubtedly, Piaget and Vygotsky introduced important views and suggestions on the cognitive development in children. Piaget suggested that the children progress through maturation stages and discovery learning with minimal social impact. Vygotsky, from other hand, stressed the importance of the cultural context and language on cognitive development. The following will browse, in general, some implications of the both theories for instructions in different educational settings then more specific for symbolic play in kindergarten. Implications for Instructions of Piaget and Vygotsky Educators and school systems have been applying the cognitive development theories of Piaget and Vygotsky in classrooms teaching for some time. The most important implications of the both theories are that the learning environment should support the discovery-learning and that child should be effectively involved in the learning process. They stressed the role of peer interaction and the symbolic play. Both also agreed that development may be triggered by cognitive conflict; this entails adopting instructional strategies that make children aware of conflicts and inconsistencies in their thinking (Driscoll, 2005). A good example of this would be the Socratic Dialogs which fosters the critical thinking through a series of questions and answers that enable learner to develop the understanding of the learning materials. However, Piaget and Vygotsky differ in the ways of guiding the discovery learning in children. Piaget recommended a very little teacher interference while Vygotsky prompted the teacher to guide the discovery learning offering questions to students and having them discover the answer by testing different options (Scaffolding). According to Piaget, teachers dealing with children in preoperational stage (like in kindergarten) are encouraged to incorporate the play as a pedagogic strategy; in play children are engaged in active self-discovery activities employing concrete object or symbolically. It also helps to understand that and since the children in this stage have not yet mastered the mental operations, the teacher should not only use action and verbal short instructions but also to demonstrate these instructions. Using visual aid is very important in this stage to create attractive and discovery-oriented learning environment (Driscoll, 2005). Moreover, is to pay attention to the egocentrism as a character of this stage, teachers are encouraged to be sensitive that children dont understand that not everyone else has their view or can understand the words they come up with (Woolfolk, 2004). It is important to in the stage to provide the children with a range of experiences and knowledge to build the found ation (basic scheme) for concept learning and languages those children are expected to master in coming stages. Teaching children in the concrete operation stage should involve hands-on learning at which children have the opportunity to test and manipulate objects, perform experiments and solve problems in order to develop logical and analogical thinking skills. Teacher should consider using familiar examples to explain the complex ideas and this is by linking to the existing knowledge of the learners (scheme). While teaching the students in formal operations stage requires teachers to offer student open-ended projects that enhance their advanced problem solving and reasoning skills. It is critical in this stage for the teachers to help learners understanding of the broad concepts and their applications in the real life. The teachers applying Vygotsky teaching methods would be very active player in their students education. The most popular technique to be utilized is the scaffolding at which teachers will provide assistance and the feedback as the knowledge source to support learning of new information. The teachers then will not present information in one sided way but will provide the guidance and assistance required for learners to bridge the gap between their skills level and the desired skills; when they are able to complete tasks on their own, the guidance and support will be withdrawn (Greenfield, 1984 cited in Driscoll 2005). Also teachers applying Vygotsky theory utilized the meditation tools and teach students how to use these tools in their learning (computers, books,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦). Vygotsky emphasized the language and other sign systems (such as symbolic playing) as important tools for children learning. Language is the cultural communication tool that transmits history and cultural va lues between individuals and from parents and teachers toward children. Most importantly, is incorporating the group or peer learning as an important source of cognitive development. A good application of Vygotsky principles of social learning and the zone of approximate development zone is the strategy at which teachers encourage children with varying level of knowledge to help each other by allowing the child who master the skill to teach and guide his or her peer who still trying to master this skill. It is evident to be an effective learning strategy not only in children learning but also in adult learning. Piaget also believed that peer interactions are essential in helping children move beyond the egocentric and that children are more effective to provide information and feedback to other children about the validity of their logical constructions (Driscoll, 2005); hence the instructional strategies are favored that encourage peer teaching and social negotiation. Applying Piaget or Vygotsky, the teachers main goal should be to support learners and to provide the assistance plan that fulfill the learner needs and promote his thinking skills and cognitive development. Teachers should also prepare the learning environment that attracts children attention and encourages their self-discovery. The instruction plan should be designed on the premises that classrooms have students with different cultural, linguistic and knowledge backgrounds. In preparing learning activities, teachers should be able to get children to play and learn collaboratively and enhance their understanding through teacher feedback, peer feedback and social negotiation. Symbolic Play: Cognitive and Language Development As introduced, the cognitive development theories encourage play and symbolic play-in particular- as a pedagogic strategy for active self learning and language development. In play, the children initiate and take control of their activity (Driscoll, 2005); and this very nature of play along with other criteria are what distinguish play from other behaviors: play is essentially motivated with self-imposed goals, play is activity of spontaneous and pleasure, play is free from imposed rules, player is an active participants in the play; play focuses on means rather than ends, play is characteristics by the as if dimension that encourages children to use objects and gestures as if they were something else ( Hymans, 1991 ; Fein Rivikin as cited in Yan, Yuejuan Hongfen, 2005; Piaget, 1951; Rubin, Waston Jambor, 1978). In symbolic play that starts in second year of life, children use tools of objects, actions, language, signs and roles to represent something from their real or imagined world of experiences. It enables the children to build and express their understanding of either individual or social experience (Driscoll, 2005; Hymans, 1991; Lenningar, n.d; Lyytinen, Poikkeus Laakso, 1997; Piaget, 1951; Woolfolk, 2004). Symbolic play indicates that the child developed the two main cognitive operations: reversibility and decentralization; reversibility refers to the child awareness that he or she can come from the pretended role to the real world at any time while decentralization refers to the child understanding that the child in the play is still him/her at the same time with the person he/she is imitating (Rubin 1980 as cited in Marjanovic Lesnic, 2001). The next intellectual skill noticeable in the symbolic play is conservation which refers to the child ability to preserve the imaginary iden tity of the play materials despite the fact they are perceptually and could be functionally inadequate (Marjanovic Umek Lesnic Musek, 2001). The social element of the symbolic play is also a very important aspect to be considered for the cognitive development in the children. According to Vygotsky, children learn to use the tools and skills they practice with social parents; he also emphasized that learning occurs in social interactions and it is affected cultural context it occurs at. He further proposed that social interaction could lead to developmental delays or abnormal development as well as to normal or accelerated development (Driscoll, 2005). Piaget also highlighted the importance of social interaction for the children to develop beyond the egocentrism that is a characteristic of pre operational stage. The impact of symbolic play in this dimension is supported by Smilansky (1968) studies at which she proposed that social activities influence the development of the childs cognitive and social skills. When children are engaged in a role performance; they have to reach a agreement about the play idea, the course of actions and the transformation of roles and play materials and this can only be achieved when individuals come over their egocentrism and develop the ability to communicate and empathize (cited in Marjanovic Umek Lesnic Musek, 2001). Smilansky then developed the Scale for Evaluation of Dramatic and Socio-Dramatic Play; the scale tracks the progressive development in the use of the objects in the symbolic play over five stages. The first stage includes simple manipulation followed by the stage of imitating the adults activities of adults by using the model of the object as adult do (as using the hair brush as a microphone). In the third stage, the object becomes an instrument for enacting certain roles while in the forth stage the use of object/toy goes together with the speech and gestures. The final stage focuses in the speech without using objects or gestures (Smilansky 1968; Smilansky Shefatya, 1990 as cited in Marjanovic Umek Lesnic Musek, 2001). Smilansky scale supported also the role of symbolic play in the language development that was firstly proposed by Vygotsky and this language-play relation has been investigated all the way since then. The research studies discussed the component of the language in the context of symbolic play and mainly in the role playing part of it. In role playing, children engage in a communication dialogue with their playing parties. It is evident that the role playing and object transformations enable the childe to use lexicographic meanings and clear speech (Pellegrini Galda as cited in Marjanovic Umek Lesnic Musek, 2001). According to Lyytinen, Poikkeus and Lassko (1997); their study to observe and examine the relationship between language and play among 110 18-month-old children showed that early talkers of these children displayed significant more symbolic play than the late talkers ; a significant connection was found between the language comprehensive and percentage of symbolic play. Th is is supported by the study conducted by Marjanovic Umek and Lesnic Musek (2001) at which they compared three age groups of children in preschool settings with different level of play using Smilanskys Scale for the Evaluation of Dramatic and Socio-dramatic Play; the observations and results proved stronger use of the language in the function of defining roles, scenes and materials that are required for the play context. More interesting studies looked into the implications of symbolic play for the education of children with special needs and disorders such as Down syndrome and Autism. Example of these studies is the study conducted Stanley and Kinstantareas (2006) who investigated the relationship between symbolic play and other domains such as nonverbal cognitive abilities, receptive language, expressive language and social development among 131 children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The result indicates a significant positive relation between symbolic play and development of these domains in children with (ASD). The study also stressed that training in symbolic play will help to improve these children skills in other domains (Stanley Kinstantareas , 2006). Another recent study conducted by Venuti, Falco, Giusti and Bronstein (2008) to investigate the impact of mother-child interaction in the play on the cogitative functions of children with Down Syndrome concluded that such inter action leads to enhanced cognitive functioning (Venuti, Falco, Giusti Bronstein , 2008). Symbolic play, then, inked through the literature to the development of cognitive problem solving skills, linguistic transformation and creative abilities. It also supports the emotional and social development. Role playing is seen to be a way at which children escape from the real world conflicts into fantasy more comfortable world. From different aspect, it enhances the child self awareness and self directed through the positive feedback the child receives from parents and/or play mates. In term of social development, the children enjoy playful interactions with others starting with parents through whom they learn their culture values and aspects. An interaction with other children helps them to grasp the concepts of boundaries, taking turns, teamwork, competition, social negotiation, sharing, patience and the ability to deal with winning and losing emotions. Also, place assist the children physical and moral development. Physical play enhances the children motor skills as they run, jump and repeat more of pleasure full body movements. In the moral aspect, during the play with parents and other children, children begin to learn that cheating is not accepted and how they should respect others feeling and more of boundaries between the acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. Therefore, models of children learning and preschool education in professional settings are mainly driven from different understanding and implications of symbolic play which are in turn based on the premises of different cognitive development theories. Play and Learning: Educational Framework in Kindergarten Settings Children learn through play is the golden rule that any educational frameworks in the preschool (Kindergarten) settings should revolve around. According to the theories and studies discussed in this paper, the natural approach for children learning is dependent upon activities and discovery. Through touching, exploring, manipulating testing, imitating, and symbolic playing, children learn about their world. While through social interaction with other children and adults, they develop the language skills and learn about their culture, values, history, themselves and their relationships to others. The goal of the Kindergarten learning program is to help children to achieve a degree of self-confidence, to acquire social skills and to participate in activities that enable significant development in knowledge and language. The Kindergarten learning program then should engage children in different types of play that covers the range of physical, inactive, associative, solitary, parallel, surrogate (onlooker) and definitely the symbolic play. It is important to be sensitive to the developmentally characteristic of this stage of age and give the children the space for self-discovery and when instructed, instructions should visual, clear and short. The learning program should consider the stages of complexity of play in link to Scale for the Evaluation of Dramatic and Socio-dramatic Play in moving from simple touching and manipulation into object-free role playing. Teachers should be sensitive to the children differences and to the egocentrism characteristic of this age and encourage children gradually to engage in more collaborative kind of playing. For an example, the teacher can int

Economic And Social Impacts Of Lakemba Street Festival Tourism Essay

Economic And Social Impacts Of Lakemba Street Festival Tourism Essay Within the sport and hospitality field, the term event is used to describe a wide range of event categories many of which have quite different characteristics. According to the article à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Such events range from the Olympic Games at the mega-event end of the scale to small regional festivals. Jago and Shaw (1998, p.29). Other good definitions could be used including, (Getz 1991; Jago Shaw 1998; Arcodia Robb 2000). According to Jago and Shaw (1998, p.29), the definition of subcategories of events, including community festivals, and mega events is a onetime infrequently occurring event of limited duration that provides the consumer with a leisure and social opportunity beyond everyday experience. Community events and festivals according to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Reflect and celebrate the community in which they are staged. This statement is continued by suggesting that street parades and festivals can create a sense of pride and a sense of place or identity. They provide for different levels of participation which helps bring people together. According to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Events and festivals can boost the local economy, by attracting visitors and showing them that the area is a great place to live, work and invest. Managing a community event or festival is complex and could be very overwhelming. Nevertheless when profitable, an event can be extremely enjoyable, rewarding and pleasurable. Introduction With a crowd of 30,000 people the Lakemba street festival held on Saturday 7th August 2010, celebrates the local multicultural community coming together. The Lakemba City Council strongly believes that staging street parades, festivals and events are an important part within Lakemba, as they help unite the community and the local neighborhood in celebration and festivity. According to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Street festivals offer the population with a sense of belonging to their local community and are also seen as an effective promotional tool for the many groups and organizations that operate within the municipality. Indicated on the websiteà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The festival included a variety of foods including food stalls offering a range of cuisines and treats from different countries including Malaysia, Fiji, India, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, and the Cook Islands. This statement is continued by sugges ting that the event embraced the theme World on your Plate' suggesting the celebration of a multicultural community. Staging events and festivals also assist by supplying the opportunity for people to express and convey their cultural prosperity and diversity of the community, as well as some unique features including the areas environment factors and heritage. The vision of the Lakemba City Councils with the assistance of hosting events and festivals in the local area are established with the community goal to: Support and encourage community belonging, and to Support the contribution and participation in leisure, by distinguishing and understanding the benefits that participation in local festivals brings to the community and the individual welfare. Resources There is a great expectation that staging events provide a high visitor spending that will contribute extensively to the local economy. Stated in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The anticipation of tourists and increased expenditure in the destination area is a common feature of any special event (Murphy and Carmichael, 1991). However this approach can be impractical unless the area has a mixture of entertaining factors that assist in attracting people which benefit the economy growth and development. With Lakemba providing a clean environment, sufficient services and infrastructure, and a wide range of events and attractions including Justice Dance Crew, Politician à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. and many more singing and dancing acts, appeal to different people from different places to the area. According to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Local groups recognize that the econom ic value of events needs to be recorded in order to make effective decisions (Yoshioka, Virden and Knopf, 1991). Costs Festivals and Special events can create extensive economic costs, which are usually not thought of or might be missed during the excitement of the event. According to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. These can include direct, indirect and opportunity costs (Crompton, 1995). This statement is continued by stating that the direct costs associated with staging a local event are similar in nature to mega events only in smaller size. These include, police responsibility, managing traffic, medical aid, security, garbage removal, and other costs. Indirect costs might be difficult to record but include, personal or property damage connected to drug or alcohol use at the event, social conflict, congestion, disruption to lifestyle of local people and vandalism. Benefits According to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The direct and indirect benefits of a local festival event are similar to a mega event only smaller in magnitude. Staging street parades and festivals are known to increase employment, income, production, investment, additional services, infrastructure, innovations and improvements to the area. According to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Intangible benefits such as growth in community strength and co-operation can result from the host community which is involved in event planning and production. This statement is continued by identifying that the event also has the ability to enhance the values of the local people as well as providing economic stimulus (Getz, 1991). Activities such as having help from volunteers in planning, organizing, marketing and production can provide important relationships which help create and attract donations to the develop ment of the local community (Williams, Dossa and Tompkins, 1995). The Lakemba street festival helped create an abundance of community assistance and generosity through the support of volunteers and entertainment acts that performed. Staging local events and festivals must generally influence and affect the host community with a positive impression while providing economic motivation and productivity. Hall (1992) suggests that the impact of volunteer labor is a good example of added economic value which provides additional benefits to a local event. Identified in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Williams, Hainsworth and Dossa, (1995) also explains the significance of having volunteer work to the event by providing free labor in areas such as hosting visitors, maintaining services, event management, and ensuring safety and security. Due to the fact that volunteer work is mostly offered from leisure time, it is understood that in turn this would provides minimal opportunity costs making the community benefits as a whole. Economic Impacts According to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Richie (1984) he notes that using two major sources to constantly and frequently provides an extensive demonstrable data base for economic effect estimates. These major data sources include direct and indirect procedures. Gaining information from people at the event directly can enable researchers to gain information about economic impacts. Indirect data can be gained from organizations that either participated or were affected by the event (Uysal and Gitelson, 1994). In order to acquire suitable, consistent and reliable data, using both direct and indirect measures is necessary. According to Burns and Mules (1986), the geographical frame of reference of an event is an important factor to consider when assessing costs and benefits. They suggest that people attending the event that spend money is indicated as an important aspect of funds from outside the area. With events that are staged in smaller events, there is more ability for money attached to imported goods and services at events. In the case of the Lakemba street parade the indirect measures of spending is difficult to estimate. According to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Funds paid to businesses outside the region are expected to be substantial due to the nature of purchased goods. Most small regions including Lakemba do rely greatly on goods and services imported from larger cities and shopping centers. Social Impacts Other important factors that impact on street or festival events include social impacts. Some examples include the strengthening of already established services and convenience stores, attracting new and different people to the area (Getz 1991). According to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. (Onyx Bullen 2000) issues such as safety, trust and a sense of personal efficacy have importance in the study of social impacts place on festivals and community events. Delameres (1997) states that to the success of the event, some social factors that affect events and festivals include the friendliness, safety, acceptance and creativity of the community. According to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ social impacts are defind as factors that have an impact on the quality of life for local community. This indicates that economic effects of the event including employment opportunities and environmental impacts including litter are likely to influence the general view of the local people. In conjuction with this statement Ritchie (1984), and later Hall (1989, 1992) identified six elements that have the ability to impact on an event. These include economic, tourism/commercial, physical, socio-cultural, psychological, and political factors. Some examples are shown in the table below. CONCLUSION Many local, community events are unique in their design, format and operation system relying on the local community. The potential for people attending to spend money can be inadequate and restricted. The Lakemba street festival was the 11th held this year. The festival was located at the main street of Lakemba where people where able to participate in and enjoy fun activities, dance and food. The event is run by Canterbury Council, which it celebrates respect, unity and peace.

recovery :: essays research papers

Disaster Recovery for Linux There is no bootable Linux system on HDD in a disaster situation; therefore it is always a good idea to backup the bootable Linux system on removable media for example on floppy disks. For example if the hard disk fails, or if an important file is accidentally deleted. No matter what the cause is some recovery procedures will be needed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first step to recover from a disaster is to make a custom boot disk. It is not sufficient to just copy the standard boot disk image from the Linux cd rom because it will not necessarily have all the Kernal support configured. First log into the root shell session by using the cd / command and inserting a floppy disk. Then examine the /etc/lilo.conf to find the Kernal identity and use the mkbootdisk command and device /dev/fd0 with the string, example 2.2.5-15, found in the /etc/lilo.conf. The uname –a command can be used to display the Kernal version. After the successful completion of that step eject the disk and write protect it. Another way to recover from a disaster is to make a rescue disk. The rescue disk is taken from the image in the linux cdrom. It is not like the custom bootdisk where an examination of the /etc/lilo.conf is done. What makes the boot disk created for the system valuable is that it contains the special drivers, such as SCSI drivers, that may be required to boot the system. Another alternative to recover from a disaster is to create a Tom’s Root Boot Diskette. The tomsrtbt distribution may be done on the internet: A complete Linux system on a single diskette. To create the diskette set the browser to http://www.toms.net/rb/ and download the latest version. To prepare the emergency boot disk, place the zipped tar file into a directory such as /usr/local/src and follow the install procedures. The tar file is a versatile archiving utility that is not limited to strictly tape backup. TAR files can be stored locally as files, and sent over nertworks as a method of back up. recovery :: essays research papers Disaster Recovery for Linux There is no bootable Linux system on HDD in a disaster situation; therefore it is always a good idea to backup the bootable Linux system on removable media for example on floppy disks. For example if the hard disk fails, or if an important file is accidentally deleted. No matter what the cause is some recovery procedures will be needed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first step to recover from a disaster is to make a custom boot disk. It is not sufficient to just copy the standard boot disk image from the Linux cd rom because it will not necessarily have all the Kernal support configured. First log into the root shell session by using the cd / command and inserting a floppy disk. Then examine the /etc/lilo.conf to find the Kernal identity and use the mkbootdisk command and device /dev/fd0 with the string, example 2.2.5-15, found in the /etc/lilo.conf. The uname –a command can be used to display the Kernal version. After the successful completion of that step eject the disk and write protect it. Another way to recover from a disaster is to make a rescue disk. The rescue disk is taken from the image in the linux cdrom. It is not like the custom bootdisk where an examination of the /etc/lilo.conf is done. What makes the boot disk created for the system valuable is that it contains the special drivers, such as SCSI drivers, that may be required to boot the system. Another alternative to recover from a disaster is to create a Tom’s Root Boot Diskette. The tomsrtbt distribution may be done on the internet: A complete Linux system on a single diskette. To create the diskette set the browser to http://www.toms.net/rb/ and download the latest version. To prepare the emergency boot disk, place the zipped tar file into a directory such as /usr/local/src and follow the install procedures. The tar file is a versatile archiving utility that is not limited to strictly tape backup. TAR files can be stored locally as files, and sent over nertworks as a method of back up.

Black Hawk Down - Summary of the book as written by Mark Bowden :: American America History

Black Hawk Down - Summary of the book as written by Mark Bowden It was mid-afternoon on October 3, 1993. There were approximately 160 men eagerly awaiting the signal to proceed. Matt Eversmann sat waiting in Super Six Seven, a Black Hawk helicopter. He noticed that things were being done differently from the other setups, which had been false. This time they were packing more ammo and the commander had come out to see them off. The troops were being sent in because warlords were allowing their people to starve to death. The world had sent food, and the warlords hoarded it. The world had decided to stop this. Today's mission was to invade the Habr Gidr clan that was in Mogadishu Somalia. The clan was led by Mohamed Farrah Aidid, but that day's targets were two of his lieutenants. They were to be arrested and imprisoned with other clan members that had already been captured. At 3:32 P.M. the armada launched. They flew from the coastal airport into the city of Mogadishu. Above the city the men could see the destructions the city had experienced during civil war. Many buildings were demolished and the streets were crumbling. The Black Hawks were down low over the city, and the Little Birds were closing in on the target. Tires burning on the street near the target set alarm. It was a way Somalis signaled trouble and summoned militia. When the Little Birds came down people and cars began to scatter. Some people were gesturing eagerly. The Black Hawks would move in next. People began poring into the streets with weapons. Others were building barricades or lighting fires. The Rangers captured the two targets along with 22 other Somali men on the first floor of the target house. When the Rangers entered the second floor, shots started coming through a window. Rangers on the ground were shooting at their own men. The young Rangers were poorly trained and dangerous. In the streets fire was rapidly exchanging. The Somali men took advantage of the Americans decency and hid behind women and children. The Somalis moved in groups. The Rangers could not single out the ones with weapons. Things had gone pretty well. It was 3:50 P.M. The force would be one their way in ten minutes. The Humvees and trucks waited outside the main gates for the D-boys to wrap up. About this time

Seeing Nature Through Our Own Eyes :: Advertisements Advertising Essays

Seeing Nature Through Our Own Eyes missing works cited Cultural signs and messages can be seen everywhere. Advertisements are one example of these signs and messages. All of these advertisements are made depending on what our society wants and how we view things. For example, many ads try to attract a busy, stressed out, urbanized man to a more peaceful and calm scenario by making a connection of their product to a peaceful part of nature. Since we believe that nature is peaceful and calm, we believe these products will bring us these qualities through nature. If nature were labeled as disturbing and unbearable, then these ads, which try to connect nature with their product, would not attract us. Oscar Wilde also agrees with this when he points out à ¬Things are because we see them, and what we see, and how we see it, depends on the Arts that have influenced usà ®(Oates 465). A careful analysis of a few ads can help exemplify this belief. Everything we see, including these advertisements of nature, is interpreted differently depending on our background and experiences that has influenced us. All advertisements fall into one or more of three categories defined by Merchant. These categories are hierarchy, dialectics, or pastoral. The hierarchy category includes masculine aspects such as activeness, dominance, and adventure. On the other hand, the pastoral category is the opposite of the hierarchy category and includes more feminine ideas such as passiveness, peacefulness, and motherhood. The remaining dialectic category is one that is hard to define because it is neither active nor passive. This category falls in between hierarchy and pastoral because it contains ads that contain ideas that are neither feminine nor masculine. The following descriptions of the three ads fall into one or more of these categories. The first advertisement of a Nissan Xterra SUV gives you a à «reference domainà ­ of strength, comfort, and power. The ad tries to convince us to buy this SUV, which can be used to conquer nature comfortably. The ads has in big bold letters à ¬Couch for Sale,à ® as it tells us that this SUV can be taken to à ¬the mountains, the rivers, the oceans, whereverà ® and we can still be comfortable with this new type of à ¬couch.à ® The ad tries to make our couch at home seem boring and this SUV not only comfortable but also more fun by telling us à ¬rid [ourselves] of the soft, fluffy cushions and venture to where the fun is.

Marvelous Hstory Makings for Women from 1865 Essay

Women have sought out equality and its benefits for the longest of time. Their desire to own themselves and control the world’s perspective of women has been motivation throughout decades. Looking back as far as 1865, Women have always worked hard to care for the family even while they stood behind the man. Women used their skills to manage the home by bringing income in through making and selling clothing. There was a time when it was unacceptable for a woman’s shoulders to be bare in public, and unheard of to be seen with their belly visible. Sex without marriage was obscene as was the option of having sex with preventive methods. And they eventually won the battle of who can and cannot vote. Women struggled against men for and objective females for the right to enlist in the military. Abortion was brought to existence to protect women from birthing unwillingly. The world experienced several acts and rights to ensure women gained equality. Women tackled the world for women related changes drastically since 1865 and do not plan to back down. This paper defines that women have fought for equality in employment, fashion, voting, military choice, and even birth options; they achieved such rights through feminist acts like the women’s liberation movement and they will forever expect rightful equality. â€Å"Women worked hard to create income for their family, such as making clothes from scratch, turning fresh raw game into meals, cleaning homes and baking† (Bowles, M. 2011). Women did just about everything that a man did on top of their own work; they had to be prepared for the unexpected. Women would have to do other things like, tending to the farm animals, and handling the crops. Where democratic freedom is concerned, women fell short along with African Americans for the longest of time. 1842-1932, Anna Elizabeth Dickinson, an orator of the American Civil War period spoke out on women’s rights. She gave her first serious speech in 1860, before the Civil War began, addressing the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society. In 1861, she spoke on the ‘Rights and Wrongs of Women’. She spoke for organizations that focused on adult education programs (Woloch, N. (2013). Education could free women. Women searched for equality in the work place; for real payroll opportunities that were only granted to males. â€Å"There were far less than few professions offered to women if they sought a career for themselves. Other than a teacher, a nurse, or a social worker, women were not given the chance at other forms of employment† (Bowles, M. 2011). Females were given a short break when war began, and were allowed secretary, cook and nurse positions. The women’s rights movement was kicked off in year 1848. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, an American leader in the women’s right movement put together the Declaration of Rights for women. The declaration gained 68 women signatures as well as 32 men signatures. Not only was this declaration of rights after the end of women’s struggle for work equality, but also for educational strengthening, and desired voting rights. â€Å"Stanton, and another strong willed women like Susan B. Anthony, fought through the late 19th century to be victorious, unfortunately as their passing came in 1902 and 1906 they still were not welcome to vote† (Bowles, M. 2011). Women accessed small freedoms along their journey to the great equality. Women strived for dramatic change in their lives. While rights of voting, necessary education and military options were in the works women started making changes that did not require the governments time. Women spiced up their attire. The 19th-century dress reform was a social protest. Dress reformers set their bodies free from the physical and ideological constraints of society’s acceptance of fashion. The reform became a stand for equality. The reform short dress embodied the movement’s ideas by redefining femininity and influence for women. â€Å"In the 19th century America industrialization revolutionized life, pushing cultural, social, political, and even educational change. Opportunities for women extended and contracted simultaneously. Such tremendous social upheaval in such a short time, fifty years created significant tension in the United States† (Torrens, K. M. 1999). Women were on fire. Women cut their hair, began sporting the bob, and experimented with makeup. With the exception of actresses very few women wore lip stick or even powder on their face. To see women decorating their faces for reasons other than entertainment was absurd, yet alluring and exciting. Women were making their mark in America. â€Å"Short skirts, unbuckled boots, and heavy makeup made up the ‘flapper’. Daring teenage girls explored this look and older generations were stunned by the outrageous fashions and attitudes† (Bliven, B. 1925, Sept. 9). â€Å"Women’s skirt lengths crept up through the years; presently we are not awe struck to see a skirt not worthy of being called a skirt, but in 1915 most considered a skirt that ended below the knee to be simply scandalous† (Bowles, M. 2011). In the 1920’s flappers were considered a new breed of young Western women who wore the above mentioned short skirts, bobbed hairstyles, and they also listened to jazz. They would flaunt their rebellious ways in society. Flappers wore excessive makeup, drank, smoked and they were guilty of treating sex more casually than the bond between married people. Not all women were as bold and could reveal as much skin as the flapper girls. â€Å"Many tried to gracefully mix the old with the new in order to protect themselves as well as fit in with the new† (Torrens, K. M. 1999). Women took control of appearance. It took years for women of generations, races, cultures etc†¦ to accept the option to dress how they wish, and even presently there are still cultures that resist the urge to break free and dominate their attire, but for American women fashion is freedom. Fashion is a historical point made that women will be equal, women will stand as tall as men and be seen, heard and respected as man, not just thought of as â€Å"from the rib, which God has taken from man, made him a woman, and gave her to the man† (Robert A. Couric, 2003). I, as a woman, vote yes to that. Voting has been a desire of women for quite a stretch of time. Act after failed act women fought passionately for equality in voting. What sense does it make that a male can choose who runs his country and a female cannot have a say? When the Declaration of Independence was done in 1776, it stated that all men were created equal, but said nothing of women’s rights. â€Å"Several women’s rights leaders found this to be unacceptable and, along with other proud women, Stanton created the term ‘Womanisfesto,’ which was modeled after the Declaration of Independence† (Roberts, 2005). Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and approved on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment promised all American women the right to vote. Victory took decades to achieve. Marches, speeches, letters of defiance, and civil disobedience all lead to the radical change of the Constitution. Before that in 1869 the National Woman Suffrage Association was begun, with the goal of securing an amendment to the Federal Constitution for woman suffrage (Woman suffrage). After years with much fight, failure and motivation to enforce women’s rights to vote, the 19th amendment was finally accomplished. The Presidential election of November, 1920, was the first official opportunity for all American women to utilize their right to vote (Woman suffrage). War caused huge vacancies, resulting in great opportunity for women because they were discriminated against in job choice. There was a high demand for assistance in the field, therefore the government called women in to volunteer for service, and why not take that shot at future security. Unfortunately they were not given military privileges or benefits. Women were granted the chance to also serve the military in secretarial jobs and some women drove trucks. Women gained employment during the war, but unfortunately lost them once men returned from Europe. â€Å"The participation of women in the war was serious, not only for the nation, but for their own cause† (Bowles, M. 2011). Women started off serving in the military as contracted or volunteered nurses, cooks and they even disguised themselves as soldiers. During the American Revolution Deborah Samson joined in the Continental Army as Robert Shurtliff, she served as a soldier for almost one whole year, but that opportunity for females was stripped from them when the armed forces decided they were going to ensure that only the healthiest men were in the service, so they started thorough physical examinations (history and collections). The 1960s and 1970s saw an important legislation enacted to address sex discrimination in employment and education. Phyllis Schlafly, a woman opposing the equal rights amendment accused that the amendment would create a â€Å"unisex society† while weakening the family, harming the vision of the homemaker, legalizing homosexuality, and exposing girls to the military draft† (Steinem, G. 1970). Well, women on board with the equal rights amendment were all for it, and would not stop aiming for success even if some of the shared sex were against it. In 1948 Congress passed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act allowing women status in the military, as well as veteran’s benefits. During the late 1940’s females were allowed permanency as members of the armed forces. They were given all the power men have in military; presently in 2013, the United States Armed Forces flipped a 1994 rule that bans women from serving in certain combat positions, totally cleared the way for women to hold positions in front line units and powerful commando teams. Rights of work choice were on the rise for women. Women were frustrated with their place in society and their progress in their fight to obtain employment and achieve equal rights. In 1960 the amount of women workers doubled in 1940, and just about 40 percent of all females over the age sixteen had employment. The female employee rate increased four times quicker than the rate of men. Wives at work doubled in percentage in between 1940 and 1960† (Purnell, S. E. 1976). The Women’s Liberation Movement was a feminist political movement which developed in the 1960s and 1970s. Year 1961 oral contraceptives or birth control was accessible for women and it was the first step of the women’s liberation movement. In 1961, President Kennedy’s commission to examine the issues involving women discovered that discriminatory actions were indeed being taken against women. In 1963, the Equal Rights Act was in place. It ensured that discrimination between sexes concerning the wages in the work establishment was against the law. In 1964 President Johnson finalized the Civil Rights Act. Signed papers did not mean that realistically women were treated fairly, so a group of women known as NOW, or National Organization for Women took action to bring women’s participation in society up to par, as equal partners to men. The liberation movement made huge steps for women to ensure equality and opened doors for other possibilities for women. The choice to birth a child or not became a concern for women. Several anti-abortion laws had been around since at least 1900. Abortion was prohibited in 30 states and legal only under certain scenarios that could include rape-pregnancies, or incest in the other 20 states. 1925 Margaret Sanger presented the world with her speech, The Children’s Era; the speech addressed the results of overpopulation and a lack of birth control options. Her words: â€Å"Before you can cultivate a garden, you must know something about gardening. You have got to give your seeds a proper soil in which to grow†¦ † (Margaret Sanger, 1925). There is a difference in relation to giving birth unwilling and doing so unprepared. Just about two years after this successful speech, Ms. Sanger spoke at the first World Population Conference in Geneva. Understanding that women would be blamed for their conditions and the repeated pregnancies they faced, Sanger reached out to her audiences in hopes they would help fund her birth control ideas and laws. She used the stories of children to bond her listeners and force support for the services for mothers. She also goes in to great detail about diseases, and a couple other issues concerning life without birth control. It is no secret that there are situations where girls are drugged or raped and result in unwanted or unsafe pregnancies. Where are their escapes? In 1973 the Supreme Court made the decision Roe v. Wade. It invalidated all of the above mentioned laws, and reset guidelines for the abortion. That granted women the right to abort life if they believed it necessary. I, as a young woman and mother, do not shout for joy in this particular right, but I can certainly appreciate the option if ever the horrifying requirement presented itself. Birth control has also become a growing industry that allows women so many different methods of contraception. It is a great thing too, because the open options allow less unaccepted abortions. Women have succeeded in much more than the allowance to choose birth; they have birthed great opportunities for future women. Decades of females fighting for the chance at equality, none of it went in vain for women have gracefully achieved the long awaited desires. Employment is now option and right to women. Women are no longer viewed as the weaker sex and entitled only to house wife, farm girl, or clothing makers. Women dramatically transformed their appearance, giving life to their look. They can realistically and openly express themselves; they have opened a world of opportunity for present and future generations. Military branched out and welcomed women with open arms after quite the fuss, but women are proud Americans as well and have done their fair share in bringing wars to end. The ballot boxes are no longer limited to the male species only, women successfully conquered that battle and have continued to show up to every voting occasion. Women even won the war of being able to choose whether or not to have child. Life is not fair, but women have gained rights to fairness in all that they do in society. There still may be corners of the world with different perspectives on how women rank in society, but watch out for the modern day Elizabeth Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, because there will always be strong women ready to right the wrongs of inequality.